For some electronic components, and in particular some integrated circuits (ICs), it is advantageous to restrict the total thickness of the integrated circuits or semiconductor circuits to, for example, a few micrometers. Such thin semiconductor circuits or semiconductor chips have a very small mass and a very small structural height, so they are of importance for many fields of application.
Such thin semiconductor circuits may be produced, for example, by grinding semiconductor wafers of a normal initial thickness of approximately 500 to 1000 micrometers, until the wafers are thinned to the desired thickness. A problem in producing thin semiconductor wafers and circuits is that the thinned wafers and circuits are more susceptible to fractures.
Some semiconductor chips are mounted on a carrier on one side of the chip and, on the other side, are electrically connected by means of bonding wires to other semiconductor chips or to external connections. The advancing miniaturization of semiconductor chips means that the current density in the semiconductor chips rises with the chip area remaining the same, which makes it more difficult to achieve sufficient dissipation of heat from the semiconductor chips. In particular, the side of a semiconductor chip that is contact-connected with bonding wires typically makes no significant contribution to the heat dissipation from the chip.